Probably Wouldn't Be This Way
by PrincessMelissa83
Summary: OneShot: The Shikon no Tama has been completed. Naraku has been killed. Kagome must now deal with the death of her beloved hanyou.
1. Probably Wouldn't Be This Way

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha and Company. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and whoever else she decides to license them out to. This fic was originally done to the lyrics of _Probably Wouldn't Be This Way_ by LeeAnn Rimes from her _This Woman_ album. I recommend listening to that song while reading this. The version with the lyrics is posted here http/www(dot)mediaminer(dot)org/fanfic/viewst(dot)php/107818.

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**_I Probably Wouldn't be this Way  
_PrincessMelissa83

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The ringing phone startled her and she jumped right off the couch, looking for the offending sound. Her mother had taken her grandfather to a doctor's appointment and Souta was spending the night at a friend's house so, for the next few hours, it was just her and Buyo. She had contemplated getting dressed (she had spent the majority of the last month in her pajamas) and trying to catch up with her friends at WackDonalds. They had called her earlier that morning to invite her to lunch since they'd all be heading off to separate colleges in a few weeks. She had declined, of course, as she had declined every invitation that had been offered since _that_ day. Leaving the house just wasn't in her agenda at the moment…seeing a world filled with life and happiness…love…she just couldn't handle it. The thought of listening to her friends, whom she loved dearly, chatter on incessantly about their relationships…it made her queasy.

Again the phone rang and she grimaced, knowing it would be one of her friends begging her to come out to eat and see a movie. It would be good for her, they claimed, to experience life once more.

They'd never been in love.

She cleared her throat and picked up the receiver, trying _not_ to sound like she was crying. "Higarashi residence."

There was a distinct pause on the other end and she briefly contemplated hanging up, but before she could disconnect the call, the caller spoke in a clear, but obviously nervous, voice. "Higarashi? It's Houjou. How are you?"

Kagome closed her eyes and mentally winced. She did _not_ want to have to deal with this today. Why couldn't people just leave her alone for goodness sake! _I just want to be alone…I just want to be…with him…_

"I'm feeling better, thank you," she lied, voice wavering slightly. "I was just in the middle of cooking, Houjou-kun, perhaps I could call you back…"

"Oh, no, that's alright Higarashi…this won't take but a minute," he stuttered and she could hear him gulp. "It's just…well…I was wondering if maybe…if you're feeling up to it, that is…you might want to…or at least think about…going to the movies next Friday? We could catch a movie and then there's a nice little restaurant that opened up just down from the theater where we could get dinner…"

"Dinner and a movie?" she squeaked. "Houjou-kun, it's a very nice offer…I…I…" She grasped for some excuse, any excuse, to turn him down, but the voices of her family and friends echoed in her mind.

_It's time to let go._

_Let the past stay in the past._

_Stop dwelling on the bad and get on living with the good_.

She sighed. "I'll go," she said finally, defeated. "I'll meet you at seven next Friday…here at the shrine…I have to go. Goodbye, Houjou-kun."

She clicked the receiver down and fell back on the couch, head down. _I just made a date. Why would I do that? I'm not ready to do that yet. I just want to sit here and try to forget. I want to forget everything…why can't I forget?_ The tears rolled down her cheeks in a steady stream as she drew herself up into a ball on the couch, making herself as small as possible.

She had not left the house since she had come home from the Sengoku Jidai for the last time except to pray in front of the Goshinboku…it wasn't actually praying, really. She spoke to Inuyasha during those moments. She had told him about everything she was feeling, everything she could not tell him before. There would be no more trips through the well, no more shard hunting, no more youkai, no more Inuyasha. Depression and guilt had overridden any other emotions and she had closed herself off to the rest of the world - even to her family.

For the first week after her return she had stayed in bed, eating and drinking only what was necessary to survive, not wanting to do that. Had it not been for her mother's constant attention and her brother's pleas every night for her to get well again, she would have allowed herself to succumb to the desire to simply fade into nothingness and blink out of existence. Then she had begun to venture from her bed to the kitchen, unable to even glance outside because seeing the towering branches of the sacred tree and remembering the events that had brought her home in the first place was much too painful. The past week was the first she had dared to step outside the house and she had wept at the base of the great tree until she could weep no more and had passed out from the exertion.

She stood and wiped her cheeks, heading for the front door. Buyo looked up from his place on the rug, but made no move to follow. He was much to comfortable where he was to pursue his curiosity. She slipped on a pair of shoes and went out to the court yard, having to shield her eyes from the bright afternoon sun. Everything was a reminder of him. The way the warm rays heated her skin and clothes reminded her of how it felt to have his haori draped over her when she was cold or in need of protection. The cool breeze that tugged at her hair and caressed her cheek only served to remind her of the gentle way he would brush her face or arm, always afraid that his calloused hands would be too rough on her smooth skin or he would accidentally scratch her with his claws. If she closed her eyes and faced the wind, it was almost as if he were there, wrapping her in his arms once more.

But he wasn't and she was alone. Wrapping her arms around herself, she went to the Goshinboku and sat on the inside of the fence that surrounded the sacred tree, her back against the wood planks. There was a slate stone marker leaned against the trunk. Her family had had it carved just after her return and it had finally been delivered a few days ago. Inscribed in deep set Kanji was his name large across the top. In smaller, less prominent symbols, were the words "_We never know how high we are till we are called to rise; and then, if we are true to plan, our statures touch the skies._" And then, at the very bottom, were the letters that always managed to bring a sad smile to her face, "_Keh_."

Flowers and incense holders were scattered here and there around the bottom of the marker, a box of matches and a bag of incense hidden behind. She reached around and took out a stick and a match, lighting the sweet smelling product and setting it in a holder before she sighed and twirled a wilting flower in her fingers. "Inuyasha..." she took a shaky breath and tried to go on. "Oh, kami, Inuyasha...I miss you so much. If I didn't know how much my family needed me, I'd be with you right now. But I'm not doing them any good by staying, am I? I mean...I can't _do_ anything. I want to and I try, but I just _can't_. I want to be happy and laugh again because I know you'd want me to be. You hated it when I cried and you always felt so guilty when I did because it was usually your fault. Now I can't seem to stop crying and it _is_ your fault, you know, but I don't want you to feel guilty. So, wherever you are, don't worry about me, okay? Souta does that enough for both of us."

She dropped the flower on the ground and drew her knees up, resting her chin on them. "I wish I could at least pretend that I'm okay, even though I never really will be. Souta worries so much and he's still so young...he comes in and tells me good night every night before he goes to bed now. He never did that before, not since he was a toddler. I think he hopes that he'll walk in my room one night and see me on the phone with one of the girls, chatting like usual. Or maybe that I'll yell at him to get out of my room...anything that would show some sign of normalcy."

She picked at the grass next to her foot, taking a long blade and bending it this way and that in her fingers, for something to occupy her hands. "Mama tries to help. She's probably the most understanding of them all...She married my dad when they were young and then he died not long after Souta was born so she had to deal with the death of her husband at a very young age...just like me. Jii-chan understands the loss, but he had twenty five years with my obaa, so he's not _as_ sympathetic."

Having accomplished destroying that blade of grass she plucked another and started on it. "The girls keep trying to get me out. They don't seem to understand that going out on the streets and seeing all those people...most of them with their significant other...it's too hard for me right now. I just keep thinking about you and all the things we didn't get to do, didn't get to say." She sighed and dropped the crumpled blade, resting her forehead on her knees as she sniffled. "And then today...oh, kami...today I made a huge mistake. Houjou called and caught me off guard, asking me out to the movies and dinner. A date! It's only been a month and already he wants me to start dating again? I'm going to have to think of a way out of it...I just never have been very good at turning him down. I mean, I feel so sorry for him when he looks at me with those sad eyes and that dejected, lost look. Please don't be made at me, Inuyasha. I didn't really want to say yes, but my mouth wouldn't do what my brain was instructing it to. You know no one could ever, ever touch my heart the way you did. I will never love anyone like I love you."

* * *

"_Inuyasha, please, can we stop?" Kagome pleaded from several feet behind the hanyou. Sango and Miroku were grouped with her, looking just as exhausted as the miko who drug her feet and slumped as if there were a heavy weight on her shoulders. "I'm so tired...I can't walk anymore." _

_He had set the pace early that day, having heard rumors of a shikon shard in a village some ways away. They had been walking at a brisk, near jog, to keep up with him since that morning and had only stopped long enough to unpack the food Kagome had brought for lunch, eating as they traveled. Kirara had carried them a ways, but Sango had insisted that they start walking so that the neko could rest. They never knew what they might run into and Kirara might be needed to help and so the small kit had been riding quite comfortably on Sango's shoulder. Shippou had been rotating from one shoulder to the other, too small, with too short of legs to manage to keep up on the ground. _

_The hanyou stopped walking and silently turned, doubling back to where the three stood. "There's a hot spring not far from here," he told her, looking down his nose at her. "If we get there, we'll be a little less than halfway to the village." He glanced at Sango and then looked back down at Kagome. And he had thought that she might appreciate a hot bath after the day he'd put her through. _

_She lowered her head and closed her eyes. "I really want to, Inuyasha, but I'm just too tired to keep walking." She really did want to. The idea of relaxing her stressed muscles in the warm and soothing waters of the hot spring was defiantly inviting. When she opened her eyes again, she saw him standing with his back to her, crouching slightly as if waiting for her to do something. _

"_Come on, wench, what're you waiting for?" He growled over his shoulder. "Get on already. We ain't got all day, you know." She grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck while he grabbed her legs, making sure she was holding securely enough to not fall. "Come on, Kirara. You take Sango and Miroku. They look like they're about to fall out. Humans are so weak."_

"_I am not weak," Kagome protested, but didn't have the energy to really sound put out. "I'm not."_

"_Keh." He smirked, confident that the other two couldn't see it. He knew she wasn't weak, but it was fun to patronize her. He did worry though. He'd never seen her this tired before._

_She lay her head on his shoulder, her nose pressed against his neck. She could feel the beads of his rosary pressed into her cheek, but didn't move. "Inuyasha?" She felt the muscle in his shoulder jump when her breath tickled his bare skin._

"_Nani?'_

"_Wake me when we get there, 'kay? I really," she yawned mid sentence, closing her eyes, "wanna...the hot spring..." Sleep was already beginning to claim her and her breathing deepened and evened out, casting steady bouts of warm air on his skin.

* * *

_

She raised her head, looking up at the branches of the huge tree. For a moment she thought she saw a flash of red and silver on the lower branch, but when she blinked it was gone. _Great_, she thought with a trace of bitterness, _now not only am I talking to him, but I'm seeing him as well_.

She sighed. Too bad it wasn't real.

* * *

_She sat on a ledge that jutted out beneath the waters of the hot spring, her back leaned against the 'wall'. She had tied her hair up to keep it from getting wet and donned her bathing suit, just in case a certain lecherous monk found the energy to come spying on her. Sango had been unable to stay awake any longer and had left her in the springs by herself with her request to ask Inuyasha to come. She wanted to be able to relax and not be on the lookout for youkai or perverts. Shippou was already curled up in her sleeping bag, fast asleep. _

_When his aura sparkled in her minds eye, she smiled, and lay her head back, looking up to find a patch of red amongst the green foliage of the tree above her. "Hey, Inuyasha." He grunted and she closed her eyes with a sigh. "Thanks for bringing us here. It was really sweet of you to think of it."_

"_Keh. I ain't sweet," he muttered. "I just wasn't in the mood to argue with you and I knew if I told you about the hot spring you'd keep going, getting us that much closer to the shard."_

_She frowned and batted at the water, causing it to splash though she knew she couldn't reach him all the way in the tree. "Oh, fine then, be that way. I was trying to be nice and compliment you."_

"_Keh."_

_She lay there, frowning slightly, for a while with neither of them saying anything. Finally she sighed. "Why don't you ever want to admit to doing something nice for someone? Everything you do, you claim to have done for selfish reasons. Is it that horrible to be thought of as being a good guy?" _

_She heard the leaves rustle as he moved around on his branch. "I ain't a good guy, Kagome." She sighed. "Oi, wench, you got that swim thing of yours on?"_

_At that she lifted a brow, curious. "Of course I have it on, silly. Miroku is still around, you know."_

_She thought she heard him chuckle before he landed on one of the large rocks that surrounded half the spring and sat cross legged, tucking his hands into the sleeve of his haori. Even though he was facing her, he kept his eyes on the water just below him. She was covered, of course, but he still felt uncomfortable knowing how small her swim clothes were and just how little they covered._

"_Inuyasha?" She asked tentatively. "You never answered my question. Why do you turn everything around to make yourself look bad? Why don't you like being considered a good person? You _are_ a good person, you know. You have a good heart."_

"_What makes you think so?" He retorted roughly._

"_Because I know you." _

"_Oh really, Kagome, you know me?" He looked at her, glaring slightly. "You _think _you know me. But how can you be sure that I really don't have an ulterior motive behind what I do? How do you know I don't just do it because it benefits me?"_

_She raised her head to look at him, her expression sad and serious. "Because if I took all your actions at face value then I'd have to believe you lied to me and you really do only see me as a shard detector, a means to an end. I'd have to believe the only reason you protect me is so that I can find the jewel shards for you." He looked away from her and she looked down at her hands in her lap. "I know that's how it was in the beginning, but I believed...I hoped...that our relationship had changed at least that much."_

"_Your not just a shard detector." His voice was quiet and she almost missed it. When she looked up at him, he still had his head turned away from her. "I didn't lie when I said that before. I have never lied to you, Kagome. I protect you because I want to." He turned to look at her, giving her a slight scowl. "But don't go getting all cocky and shit because I said that."_

_She gave him an incredulous look. "Oh, so you're saying you fight for me because you want to...because you like to fight? Because you want something to do? I just wondered because I don't want to misunderstand your meaning and accidentally think you might care about me."_

"_Of course I care, baka!" He exclaimed defensively, glaring at her. "Do you think I'd risk my neck for someone I didn't care about? I just don't want you to go reading shit into it, that's all."_

_Kagome smiled, satisfied for the moment, and leaned back again, closing her eyes once more. "And what am I supposed to read into it, Inuyasha?"_

"_I know how you are, Kagome." He pouted over having had to admit as much as he had. "You'd probably get all mushy and start that sentimental crap thinking I loved you or something."_

_Her body stiffened and she fought for a moment to bring her heartbeat back down to normal, not wanting to him to know how this conversation was making her feel. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered and she wondered what other information she could squeeze out of him. "Well, do you? Love me, I mean?" She didn't look at him, not wanting to make him nervous enough to leave. "I mean, if you don't then you might as well tell me now so that you don't have to worry about me getting mushy and sentimental. So, do you?"_

"_No," he answered a little too quickly. Opening one eye just enough to peak at him, she saw that his cheeks were bright red and she didn't think it was from the heat of the springs either._

_She took a deep breath. It hadn't exactly been the answer she wanted, but it was the one she'd known she'd get. Of course he didn't love her. It was a silly notion. "Well, then there's no reason for you to worry, is there?" She sat up and reached for her towel, starting to get out of the springs, making herself yawn. "I'm exhausted. I'm gonna head on to bed. Thanks for keeping me company, Inuyasha." She grabbed her pajamas and shoes, about to go back behind one of the larger rocks and change from her swim suit when he grabbed her arm._

"_What'd I do this time, wench?" he demanded._

_She kept her head turned away from him, eyes on the ground and tried half heartedly to break loose from his hold. "I don't know what you're talking about."_

"_Don't try that with me, Kagome. You're about to cry. I can smell it. Now I wanna know why."_

_She sighed and turned to look at him, smiling softly. "It isn't your fault this time, Inuyasha. It's just...I just..."_

"_You what?"_

"_I just wanted something I can't have is all." She tried to pry his fingers from her arm and he let her go. "It's silly. Don't worry about it. I knew I couldn't have it, but I let myself get my hopes up anyway. I'm fine, really."_

_He narrowed his eyes, studying her profile where she stood, not moving to get dressed again. "What did you want?"_

"_I told you, it's silly. Don't worry about it."_

"_Kagome..."_

_She sighed at his warning tone. He wasn't going to leave her alone till he got an answer and she didn't have one to give him except the truth which she most defiantly could not tell him. He growled in agitation, impatient with her stalling and she glared at him. "You. Okay? I wanted you, but I can't have you because you don't want me. And why would you? I'm just a silly, weak, useless, little girl. After all, you prefer humans of the undead variety." Realizing what she'd just said, she clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes going wide. "Oh, kami! Inuyasha I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said that. I didn't really mean it, it's just that...you kept bugging me for an answer and I was getting upset and embarrassed..."_

_He gently grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand from her mouth. "You coulda just said sit."_

"_I don't say that anymore," she protested quietly. "Not unless it's for your safety."_

_He smiled slightly. "Yeah...I know." He furrowed his brow and looked at her. "You really want me?"_

_She blushed bright red and tired to hide her face. "Oh, kami, I can't believe I said that..." He took her words the wrong way. She could tell by the immediate stiffening of his body and the tightened hold on her wrist. "Yes, I want you. I just didn't want you to know that because you'd probably get mad at me and yell and take it the wrong way and call me a baka and then you wouldn't want to come near me anymore."_

"_Why would I get mad?" He shrugged and looked down to see her confusion and sighed. "I...I lied about before...when I said I didn't...you know...love you..." _

_She sat with her back to him, a large book open in front of her and a notebook in her lap, scribbling on a sheet of paper. History was a breeze, she was living it, but science and third year algebra...if Naraku didn't kill her, school work would. They had procured a place to stay that night in a village. At the moment, Sango was keeping an eye on Miroku while he got rid of whatever evil spirits he had conjured up when getting the room and Kirara was just outside playing with Shippou. Thank goodness for the neko youkai or she'd never get any work done. _

_She heard Inuyasha come and crouch behind her, but chose to ignore him for the moment. Of course, she should have known he wasn't going to allow that._

"_Oi, Kagome?"_

_She didn't look up, from her notes. "Hmm? Inuyasha, you wouldn't happen to know what b equals, would you?"_

"_Nani?" _

_She could feel his gaze on her back. "Never mind," she giggled. "I'm trying to finish my algebra. After that comes physics." She sighed and shook her head. "The fun never ends..."_

_He didn't leave, but crept closer, looking over her shoulder at her work. After a few moments of quiet, he poked her. "Kagome?"_

"_Hmm?"_

_He hesitated as if he were deliberating with himself over whether or not this was the right time. Probably not, but he didn't have the knack of finding the right moment for anything. "When the jewel's completed and all...what are you gonna do?"_

_She flipped a page in her book and started punching in numbers on her calculator. "I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. Why?" She looked over her shoulder at him, pausing in her work. He looked so...sad. She smiled and leaned back slightly so that she could kiss his cheek. "What are you thinking about?"_

_He shrugged. "I was just wondering what's gonna happen to us is all." He shrugged. "You'll leave, won't you?"_

"_I'll always come back," she told him softly, smiling. "I always have. I know what you're thinking, Inuyasha, but I'm not like everyone else. I wouldn't leave you alone."_

_He nodded, but didn't move away and she quirked a brow, wondering what else he had on his mind. The bridge of his nose turned light pink with a blush with whatever thoughts he was conjuring up. "Kagome...I was thinking...if you wanted, you could stay here...with me."_

_She giggled as he stumbled over his words. "I thought that's what we just talked about, Inuyasha." _

_He gave her a short glare before looking back down at the floor. "Aa...well, I meant..._with_ me. You know...like...like...a mate..." the last few words were so quiet she had to strain to hear them, but when she did, she blushed crimson._

"_D-did you just say...like a mate?" She squealed, eyes going wide._

_He blushed deeper. "Well, yeah. It's like marriage and...I just wondered...but, forget it. I shouldn't have asked." He started to get up, but Kagome twisted so that she could grab the cloth of his haori._

"_Let me get this straight. You just asked me to marry you...eh...be your mate and now you're taking it back?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "What kind of proposal is that, hmm? You can't just ask someone to be with you and then take it back. If you're gonna ask then ask because you mean it."_

_His eyes widened at her tone and expression and he put his hands up in defense. "You didn't look like you liked the idea, so I decided to forget it. What're you getting upset about anyway?"_

_She groaned in exasperation. "I'm getting upset because my boyfriend just asked me to marry him and then didn't even give me a chance to answer before he changed his mind."_

"_You were just going to say no."_

"_Oh, yeah?" She had dropped her pencil and with her hands free, placed them on her hips. "You didn't wait around to find out, did you?"_

_He looked at her, suddenly suspicious. "What would you say?"_

"_You won't know till you ask, will you?"_

"_Kagome..."_

_She smiled sweetly and lightly kissed his lips. "I'd ask how this mate/marriage thing worked because I don't know anything about youkai or inu youkai society."_

_He smirked, as if that were enough of a yes for him, and sat back on his heels. "We mate, of course, and I mark you as mine. I have to bite you - on the shoulder. It'll leave a special scar that will let other youkai know you and I are together. You'll also carry my scent. After that we're hanyou and mate till one of us dies." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Then once you knew, what would you say?"_

_She reached out and tweaked one of his ears, laughing when he growled at her. "I'd say you're gonna have to wait till I finish my homework."

* * *

_

"The first college term starts in a month. Mama enrolled me even after I told her I wanted to wait. She thought it'd be good for me and she says that now my education should be the important factor of my life since I won't be traveling time anymore. I don't know what I'll study. I thought about being a teacher. I think I've got the patience for it, but I can't get myself motivated enough to really consider it. For a short time I even considered being a doctor, but I don't think I have the stomach for it. Stitching you guys up was one thing, but I don't know if I could deal with all the blood and sickness. Especially not now.

"Eri gave me her cousin's number. He's a psychiatrist and deals a lot with grief counseling. She's been hounding me ever since to go talk to him. Wouldn't seeing a psychiatrist mean that I think I'm at least a little loony? Does her giving me the card mean that Eri-chan thinks I'm a little loony?" She shook her head. "What would I say to him, anyway? 'Oh, I'm grieving the loss of my husband. He was a hanyou from Sengoku Jidai and died in battle while we were in search of the shards of the Shikon no Tama.' Yeah, then they'd really lock me away.

"Sometimes I even wonder if that wouldn't be such a bad thing. At least then I wouldn't have Ayumi creating dossiers on all the available guys she knows. They all think that I should immediately go out and start living again. You know, there was a time when a person was given a year to mourn the loss of a loved one. I wasn't even allowed a month."

She stretched her legs out in front of her and lit another stick of incense since the first had burned down. "Jii-chan finally broke Mama down. She was planning to let me have my time, deal with it in my own way and not butt in, but he's been bugging ever since I started coming out here. He thinks it's not healthy for me to be out here, talking to you. She sat me down last night and tried to talk to me about his concerns without actually telling me not too. I appreciate their concern, I really do, but I just wish that they'd leave me alone and let me work this out on my own. I'm going to live because I know you want me to. And I'm eventually going to reassemble the pieces of my life, but right now it just hurts to much. I know it'll take time, but eventually the pain will lesson, when it's not so fresh. I still have my own wounds from that battle...the physical wounds. They're starting to heal, but they're just proof that it hasn't been that long. Why can't they understand that?"

She lowered the collar of her tee-shirt and looked at the scar on her shoulder. It was still there, four small round incisions and the kanji mark for his name. "I look in the mirror every morning to see that the mark is still there. I'm so scared that it's going to fade away or something and it's the only thing that I really have left of you except Tetsuseiga and some pictures." She fingered the slightly raised scar. "I don't know why, but this scar makes me feel special. Last time Mama took me clothes shopping - you remember that day. You sulked in the tree all day because I came to this era instead of staying in the Sengoku Jidai. Anyway, last time she took me clothes shopping, I bought a lot of tank tops just so I could show it off. That's strange, isn't it?"

Her stomach growled, drawing her attention. She could no longer deny that she was starving, having not eaten anything since the previous afternoon. "Well, koishii, I'd better get something to eat, but I'll come visit again before bed." She reached over to put the incense out and stood up, lying her hand on the stone for a second before climbing back over the fence to go inside.

* * *

"_Kukukuku….feeling weak, Inuyasha?"_

_The dark haired hanyou chuckled again as he shot another tentacle at the silver haired boy facing him. The material of Inuyasha's haori was dark with blood and his steps were slow and uneven as he brought the Tetsuseiga up to try and hack off the offending appendage, coming down a second to late to perform the task. He was knocked back and landed with a grunt on his back a few feet away, struggling to get up, using his sword as a leverage and a cane. "That…all you got…Naraku…" he gasped out, still as cocky as ever even though his ears were flattened against his skull in pain. Lacerations covered his body. There was a hole through his abdomen and he was almost certain he had at least two broken ribs and a near broken, if not already broken, ankle. _

"_Don't die on me yet, Inuyasha. I'm not through having fun." Naraku laughed again and easily jumped out of the way of Inuyasha's hasty wind scar attack and right into the path of an oncoming arrow. The tip sparkled with purification light and managed to destroy his right arm and shoulder._

"_Inuyasha, do it now!" She screeched from across the field where they had come to do their final battle. "Now! Before he regenerates!" She knocked another arrow and let it fly, aiming for where Naraku's heart would have been had he had one. From the corner of her eye, she could see the hanyou struggle to raise Tetsuseiga and bring it back down. _

"_Backlash wave!"_

_The strength of the combined attack had Naraku's body in several different pieces and the Shikon no Tama flying through the air. Inuyasha fell to one knee with a moan and Kagome scrambled after the jewel before Naraku could pull himself back together. (_a/n: pun definitely intended. I needed _some_ humor…)

_With the completed tama in her hands, Kagome squeezed her eyes shut. _I wish for Midoriko's soul to be free from the turmoil of the jewel. I wish for the daemon to be defeated. I wish for the purity of the jewel to be complete. _She opened her eyes and looked down as the lumps of Naraku's flesh began to pulse and bring themselves back to form a living being. The jewel glowed bright red for a moment and she was afraid that she had done something wrong, but then the red became dotted with blue and the blue light slowly overtook the reddish glow until there was nothing left. With a flash of bright blue, the stone became dull, it's aura completely vanished. The great Shikon no Tama was now worth no more than some ordinary sea stone. _

_The lumps of mass stopped their movements and seemed to sigh as they seeped into the ground, disappearing forever._

_But she didn't take the time to study any of that. The lifeless jewel fell to the ground, forgotten, as she sprinted to Inuyasha's side in time to catch him before he could hit the ground as he toppled over. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to her, his head lying on her shoulder. "Oh, Inuyasha…why do you do these things? Why do you insist on scaring me so? I have to get you bandaged up now…" She kissed his forehead, denying what they both knew was true. There would be no need for bandages…_

_He brought his hand up to brush her cheek, wincing at the effort as the movement pulled the skin on his shoulder where Naraku had sliced through the tissue and muscle to the bone. He used his thumb to brush the tears away that had started to roll down her cheeks. Her heart knew the truth even if her mind refused to accept it. She brought her free hand up to grasp the one at her face, twining her fingers through his, brushing her lips across his knuckles. He squeezed her hand lightly in return. "Itoshii…" she had to lean further towards him to be able to hear his light whisper. "Ashi…teru…"_

"_More than life," she whispered softly, "I love you, forever and always." She smiled through her tears because she knew he loved her smile. Despite the pain that he must have been in, the hanyou smiled and his eyes slowly began to close, his body going limp in her arms before his lids rose once more, this time to only reveal dull and lifeless amber orbs. Inuyasha was gone.

* * *

_

_How long she had sat there cradling Inuyasha's cold and lifeless body, she didn't know. At what point she had lost consciousness, she didn't know either. When she had first realized…first acknowledged that her beloved hanyou was gone, she had screamed, an enraged and agonized sound that tore from her throat and echoed through the valley they were in. The pain filled reverberation had seemed to go on forever, but even that could not expel the agony that ran through her body. Then she had simply sobbed. Not the loud, harsh, dramatic sobs that most people would expect. These were quiet and hardly noticeable but shook her body with such a force that they were amazed she could manage to breathe at all. When she no longer had the strength to cry, she had closed her eyes against the dull, sightless stare of the once glowing amber eyes and lay him on the ground and simply sat there, his hand clutched in both hers._

_When she had awoken later, she was in Kaede's hut, a bandage wrapped around her arm and her middle. Someone had cleaned the blood from her skin, a mixture of her own and Inuyasha's, and had removed the tank top and jeans she'd been wearing, replacing them instead with a pair of loose, blue pajamas. There was no one in the hut with her, but she heard noises from outside and went to investigate, feeling lightheaded and dizzy when she first stood up. Where was Inuyasha? He had always stayed by her side when she was hurt or ill…_

_Oh…_

_The events of earlier returned and she felt like crawling back beneath the cover and losing herself once more to the blissful amnesia of unconsciousness. However, there were things she had to do and know first. So she slipped her shoes on and pulled the straw door back, looking out. It was just before sunset and she ventured to guess she'd only been out a few hours. They hadn't been far from Kaede's village when they'd caught Naraku and Kirara would have made it there easily. Hiraikotsu was leaned up against the wall of a small building where Kaede kept herbs and would sometimes house the sickly or injured. Kaede was probably in there with Sango…_

_A whimper from her left caught her attention and she looked down to see Shippou sitting beside the door, drawn up into a ball. She knelt and touched his head, running her fingers through his rust colored hair. He stiffened and looked up, hastily wiping his cheeks and eyes. "Kagome, you're awake. Sango and Miroku asked me to keep watch for you so you could rest." _

_She managed a small, sad smile. "No wonder I felt so safe," she said softly and his cheeks tinged with red. "Where are they now?"_

_He lowered his gaze, suddenly nervous. "They told me not to tell you. They don't want you to have to deal with it…"_

_The hand that had been stroking his hair stopped. "Deal with it? They've started preparing…where, Shippou? Where?"_

_Shippou shook his head. "No, Kagome, please don't ask. I'm not supposed to tell you."_

"_Alright." She stood up and started for the hut where Hiraikotsu was leaning. "I'll find them myself." Shippou was chasing after, trying to grab her pants leg, begging her to go back and lie down. She stopped and looked down at him, kneeling once more. "Shippou, I can't just sit back and let someone else take care of him. It's my job…and…and my right…as his mate."_

_When she stood up, he didn't try to follow, but simply watched her walk away and disappear behind the straw woven door. Sango and Kaede were inside, several basins of water sitting on the floor by them. On a tatami mat, in the middle of the room, lay Inuyasha. Someone had closed his eyes and undressed him so that only a small blanket covered his mid-section. The rest of him was bare to the world. They had almost finished washing the blood from his skin and wounds though his white hair was still coated with the drying red liquid. _

"_Kagome-chan…" Sango started as she looked up to see her friend standing there. "Why don't you go back and lie down? Kaede-sama and I will take care of this…"_

"_No."_

"_Onegai, Kagome-chan."_

_Kagome stood her ground. "No." She took a few confident steps to them and leaned down, taking the rag from Sango's hand. "I'll finish this."_

"_Kagome, you have had a difficult day and you suffered your own injuries in the battle with Naraku," Kaede stated softly. "There is no need for you to force yourself to perform these tasks when Sango-sama and I are capable."_

_Kagome turned to look at the older woman with dark, pained eyes. "I need to do this. It's closure for me. Besides," she cast a wistful glance at Inuyasha's peaceful face, "he wouldn't want anyone else touching him." _

_They had left her alone then and she had spent hours washing the dry blood from his skin and hair, brushing the silver strands out until they shone. Although there really was no point, she had taken a needle and thread, stitching the deeper lacerations back together. Still, there was really nothing she could do about the wound in his stomach except bandage it because she could not bare to look at it. While she worked, she talked to him…to herself…reiterating stories of their adventures together, pausing in her work and smiling lightly when she remembered the night he'd accidentally told her he loved her and the way their relationship had changed from there. _

_When she was finished, and his body was ready for the funeral pyre, it was long past sundown and she stood, stretching stiff muscles. His clothes had been piled by the door and Tetsuseiga was resting against the frame. The clothes would have to be washed to remove the blood and done soon, though she wondered if fire rat hair stained. They would also have to find him something to be buried in since his hakama and haori wouldn't burn, being fire resistant. The Tetsuseiga she would take home with her and keep safe. His clothes she would leave with Shippou. He would grow into them eventually and not only would it be a memento to remember his adopted father by, they would also keep him protected.

* * *

_

She had just finished eating a bowl of instant ramen, for some reason she'd started craving the stuff, when the phone rang again and she groaned. _Please don't let it be Houjou or one of the girls. Once in one day is most definitely enough_. "Higarashi residence."

"This is Tsuki Mika with Dr. Kaou's office. I'm calling to speak to a Higarashi Kagome?"

Kagome got the feeling that she should probably sit down. She had gone to Dr. Kaou about a week before everything had happened for a routine examination, but also because she'd been feeling a little funny, not quite ill, but not normal either. "This is she."

The woman sighed. "Good afternoon, Higarashi-san. You remember that when you last came to visit Dr. Kaou we took a blood sample and you informed the doctor that you were feeling different from normal? The doctor had your sample sent to the lab and I apologize for the long wait, but the lab technicians got a little backed up. It usually only takes two weeks instead of three."

Kagome nodded and then remembered the nurse couldn't hear her nod. "It's alright. I've been slightly unavailable lately anyway."

"I hope it was nothing serious," Tsuki-san commented before continuing. "Anyway, Higarashi-san, I was calling because we got the results of your lab work and would like for you to come in for a consultation with Dr. Kaou."

Kagome paled. There was something wrong. She knew it. That's why they had called. They wouldn't have called if everything was normal, would they? "Can you tell me why, please? I want to be prepared if he tells me bad news."

"Oh, it's not bad news at all dear," Tsuki-san assured her hurriedly. "It's actually quite good, in fact. Dr. Kaou just wants to get you started on some vitamins and set you up with a good prenatal physician."

"Prenatal..."

"Hai, Higarashi-san. You're not sick at all. You're pregnant." There was a giggle on the other line and Kagome realized the nurse couldn't have been much older than she. "Higarashi-san?"

She was jerked out of her stupor by the concerned voice. "Hai, I'm here. Pregnant? You're sure?"

"Positive. According to your file, at least three months. Hadn't you suspected? Have you been feeling ill? Missed your menstruation? Anything that might suggest such?"

Kagome worked her mouth, but no words came out. When her voice box finally opened up, her voice was a harsh whisper. "I...I have been nauseous and ill, but...You see, my husband...I lost my husband last month...and I thought I was just sick from grief...And I wasn't really concentrating on my cycle..."

"I'm really sorry to hear about your husband, Higarashi-san. Being a single parent is difficult, but now at least you know you'll always have a part of him with you." Kagome managed a thank you before the woman continued. "Higarashi-san, I don't wish to bother you, but I do think that it would be best if you began prenatal care as soon as possible. The stress of losing a loved one can take its toll on the body and stress at such an early stage of pregnancy is not good. Would it be possible for you to come in tomorrow afternoon at two?"

"Hai, two, tomorrow. I'll be there. Thank you, Tsuki-san." She hung up the phone and sat in the chair for a minute, staring at the wall. Pregnant. She was going to have a baby - Inuyasha's baby. _I wish he'd known...he'd have been so happy. I wish I could see his face when he found out he was going to be a father. A family was all he'd ever wanted and here it is and now he's gone...oh...Inuyasha._ She stood up and put a hand over her still mostly flat tummy. "I wish you could know your father, little one. He would love you so much and he would spoil you rotten, I know he would."

She walked back out to the Goshinboku and stood in front of the tree, looking up at its branches, touching the bark with her hands. "Koishii...a baby...we're having a baby. Did you know? Could you have known? Oh, Inuyasha, I hope you're happy. I hope you know how much I love you and are watching out for me...us...from wherever you are."

She closed her eyes as the wind picked up, wrapping around her like his arms used to do and tugged at her hair. The breeze blew the petals from the flowers of the Sacred tree so that they rained down around her. "I'm your mate and I always will be. I wish you were here, koishii. I wish you could be here to watch your pup grow up. I miss you so much. I love you, Inuyasha."

A petal brushed across her cheek, leaving a tingling feeling where it had touched her, caressing her as his hands had done. Despite the sound of the cars below on the street that ran past the shrine, despite the rustle of the leaves in the breeze, she was almost positive she heard a familiar voice whispering in her ear...

_Ashiteru...Kagome_.

* * *

A/N: The quote on Inuyasha's grave marker is a part of a poem by Emily Dickenson. I was on the net looking for some sort of quote that would fit nicely, you know (My poetry is...uh...well, you'll never have to worry about reading it...), and I saw that poem and I immediately thought of Inuyasha. 


	2. Remember Me

_**Remember Me  
**_**PrincessMelissa83

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**DISCLAIMER I: **_Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairytale_ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi. PrincessMelissa83 does not own any rights/licenses/copywrites to _Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairytale_.

**DISCLAIMER II:** Lyrics and music to _Remember Me_ are performed by Journey for the Motion Picture, _Armegeddon_. The fic was originally done to those lyrics. Because of the new rules at this cite, I have removed the lyrics but a version with the lyrics can be found at my mediaminor(.)org cite.

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I was never really happy with the sequel that I did to _Probably Wouldn't Be This Way_ and so I decided that it was time that I rewrote it. I think I like this version a lot better. There will, eventually, be a third part to it. Just don't hold your breath. And of course, please read and review!

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_He stood in the doorway of a hut, looking into the darkened room at the single object that was housed there. He was aware of the fact that this wasn't his body, that he was looking through the eyes of another, but he could not, even with his best efforts, control the actions of this person. _

_A small, glowing orb caught his attention and he moved towards it. The pearl hung from a beaded necklace on a pedestal and he ripped it away, clenching the sharp beads in his fist. The person spoke, but the words were muffled as if coming through a thick layer of wall and he could not understand what was said. _

_Something behind him caught his attention and he looked back before making an enormous leap and crashing through the roof of the hut and bounding past an angry mob towards a line of trees. He was vaguely aware that the buildings behind him were on fire, but it didn't seem to matter. _

_He had just touched ground and was beginning to sprint away when someone called to him. In mid leap, he turned to see the figure of a gorgeous woman with black hair, dressed in ancient miko garb. But what really caught his attention was the arrow, pulled taunt and aimed directly at him. _

_Things seemed to go in slow motion. He tried to dodge, but he'd been in the air at the time and had no way to alter his course. She screamed something that he didn't hear and let the arrow fly. With horrified eyes, he watched as the deadly shaft spun in its flight before finally colliding with his chest, just above his heart. The momentum shoved him backwards, knocking him into a tree where the arrow embedded itself and kept him pinned. _

_Liquid fire ran through his veins and, if he'd had the energy, he'd have screamed. The pearl he'd been clutching in his hand fell as his muscles began to relax from the electric current that seemed to be jolting through him. He tried to speak, to demand a reason, to plead for help, but his voice was a mere croak and he couldn't form the words._

So this is death,_ he thought as his eyes drifted closed and the last of his breath left his body.

* * *

_

Koinu sat up, looking for all the world like a scared jack-in-the-box. Black hair, damp with perspiration, clung to his forehead and neck as he gasped for breath, clutching a hand to his chest. He had the dream again - the same nightmare that had been repeating in his mind since the accident.

He would never admit it to anyone - in fact, he'd never even told anyone about the recurring nightmare because he didn't want to seem weak - but it scared him. Unlike his usual nighttime visions where he could wake up and allow them to fade into a fog of forgotten memory, this _delusion_ stayed with him always. And worse, when awakened, he could still feel the pain of the steel tipped arrow for nearly an hour afterwards.

He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it off of his forehead and stood on sleep weakened legs. If he closed his eyes, he could still see the chain of events that nightly took place in his mind. The look of pure hatred in the woman's eyes was unmistakable and he couldn't imagine what he or anyone could have done to warrant it.

Leaning over the sink, Koinu splashed cold water over his face, washing the sleep from his eyes with the icy wetness and shivered. He made a face of disgust and reached for a towel, doubting he would sleep again. It was rare that he ever was able to sleep again after the nightmares.

With a resigned sigh, he slipped a shirt on over his bare chest and trudged downstairs, towards the kitchen for a late night snack.

* * *

So, he wasn't the only one who had decided to raid the fridge, Shippou thought when his adopted nephew and god-son ambled groggily in. He grinned when the younger boy propped himself on the refrigerator door and studied the contents, scratching the back of his head. It was amazing how much the boy reminded him of one he'd known so long ago...

Shaking himself from those depressing thoughts, he cleared his throat, getting the younger male's attention. "There's cake in the cabinet," he offered. "Your mother thought she could hide it from me."

Koinu snorted. "Keh, she should've known better than that." He grabbed a plate from a cabinet and cut himself a slice, pouring a glass of milk for himself and refilling his uncle's glass. "What're you doing up so late?"

"I woke up and was hungry," he answered with a shrug. "Can you believe your mother thinks that I'm getting old and fat?"

"You are old and fat." Koinu put the milk away and sat at the bar across from his elder. "And totally useless. I don't know why she keeps you around, _jijii_." He smirked in a haughty way and stabbed his fork into the mound of chocolate on his plate.

"I beg your pardon. Now, just who was it that saved your neck when your uncle wanted to kill you after you wrecked the car? And who bailed your ass out of jail the night you snuck into that club and got into a fight - and didn't tell Izyaoi _or_ Sesshomaru?" Shippou narrowed his green eyes and pointed a short and rather chubby finger at the boy. "Keep insulting me and I may not be so nice next time."

Koinu sneered and glared at him with violet eyes. "Only reason you didn't tell Mom and Sesshomaru is 'cause they woulda blamed you. _You_ were supposed to be responsible for me, remember?"

The twenty-one year old had him there. At the time, the boy had only been sixteen and on lock down for bad grades. Shippou had been supposed to make sure he didn't get into any more trouble while Izyaoi accompanied Sesshomaru to a banquet in honor of her late husband.

But it had also been the day that a certain young girl had fallen through a shrine well and he had gone to pay her mother a visit that night, leaving the boy without a chaperone.

* * *

_The woman was clearly distraught as she paced before the entrance of the shrine, a cordless phone in her hands. He had kept to the shadows of a building across the street until he'd seen the young boy and old man leave. Only then had he emerged and approached. It was imperative that he speak to the woman alone for only she would be able to keep the secret. It was too risky telling the old man and child. The old man reveled in telling stories and the boy was prone to hero-worship. No, they couldn't know._

"_Excuse me, Higarashi-san?" He smiled gently, taking a few steps closer to her. "My name is Shippou Takamaru. I'm a friend of Kagome's and I know where she is."_

_Once he had calmed her down, he had explained the situation with the time traveling well and the Shikon no Tama, as well as Kagome's having been Kikyou's reincarnation. She took it rather well given the circumstance and the fairytale type nature of the story. _

"_You understand that I can't tell you everything," he told her when he finished, "but I did want to tell you this so that you wouldn't worry. And it was kinda important that you not call the police and report her missing. Calling that kind of attention to her disappearance would only cause major problems when she comes back in a few days."_

_Mama Higarashi had nodded and clutched her hands in her lap. "But she will come home?"_

"_Hai."_

"_And she'll be okay?"_

_He smiled. "Hai, she'll be fine. There are people there who would die to protect her if the need arose. She is very precious to them and I promise you she will be kept safe."_

_The woman had smiled then and nodded. "I know I should worry and question what you're telling me as well as your sanity and my own for believing you, but sometimes things happen here that can't be reasoned with normal explanations." Slowly her smile became a giggle and then a lighthearted laugh. "And to think there really is some merit to Dad's stories. There'll be no living with him once he finds out."

* * *

_

It was all part of fulfilling a promise he had made to someone many years before; someone who had been a mentor, a protector, a friend and a father to him when he had no one else.

_He sat outside the hut where Kaede and Sango were making last minute changes to Kagome's kimono and wedding attire so that everything would be perfect when she and Inuyasha went through the well the next day to have the ceremony. All the giggling and whispered talk had finally gotten on his last nerve and he'd had to escape. There was only so much girl stuff one kit could take._

_A shadow fell over him and he looked up to see Inuyasha. "They're not done yet."_

_The hanyou snorted. "Keh, I figured that much. I don't know what the big deal is. It's just a kimono." He looked at the woven mat door and shook his head before turning his golden gaze back to the kitsune. "Oi, come with me kid."_

_Shippou blinked in surprise and then shrugged it off, hopping onto Inuyasha's shoulder as they headed off towards the woods, away from the prying ears of the giggling women and lecherous monk. "Me and Kagome...we're gonna be together...a family, I guess. You know Kagome wants you to stay with us, but..."_

_He trailed off and tears filled the child's eyes. Was Inuyasha going to send him away from the only mother he had? _

"_Oi! What the hell?" The hanyou grabbed the back of the kitsune's shirt and held him out in front of him. "What's with you?"_

"_I don't wanna leave Kagome!" Shippou exclaimed, wailing. "It's not fair! I won't leave! I won't!"_

"_What the - who the hell said you were leaving?"_

_His cries ceased and he looked up, hopefully. "You aren't sending me away?"_

_Inuyasha growled. "Feh, as if Kagome would let me." He released the kit so he could scramble back to his shoulder and then sighed, settling at the base of a tree where he could still see the hut, but have his conversation private. "I need you to do me a favor, brat."_

_Shippou hopped down and sat cross legged on the ground in front of him. This was big. Inuyasha never asked for help from anyone._

"_You know Naraku ain't dead yet and the bastard's still got most of the jewel. We chose not to wait on this marriage thing, but there's still no telling how things are gonna end. I already kinda talked to Kagome about it. If anything happens to me, she goes back down the well and seals it. It's too fucking dangerous for her to be roaming around here by herself."_

_The child nodded in understanding and waited patiently. As difficult as it was for Inuyasha to ask for someone's help, it was even rarer and harder for him to be as open with his thoughts and feelings as he was being now._

"_Youkai live a long time. From what I get, Kagome's side of the well is this same village in several hundred years," he continued, frowning slightly as he tried to put together the concept of the time/space continuum that Kagome had attempted to explain once. "You're just a kid. Chances are, you'll still be around in five or six centuries and even if you ain't, you'll probably have a kid who is."_

_He stopped and looked away, turning his gaze back to the hut where Kagome was. "What I'm saying is, if something happens to me and Kagome goes back through the well, I need you to stick around this place. The shrine here is gonna belong to her family one day. Look for her and, when you find her, keep an eye on her, protect her. But you can't let her know you're there, at least not while she's traveling through the well. She tried to explain it, but who understands half the shit she says about that place?" He shook his head. "Can you do that, kid?"_

_The boy nodded, determination set on his features. "I promise. I'll protect her with my life," he swore._

"_Good."

* * *

_

He hadn't really considered the possibility that anything might actually happen to the hanyou. In his eyes, the half youkai was invincible. Though he was never as bad as Souta, he had his own sort of hero-worship of Inuyasha. The young man had begun to teach him to hunt and to fight, becoming less like an annoying older brother and more like a dutiful father.

It had come as a surprise to them all when he had fallen in a fight with Naraku and it had devastated the miko, but with Naraku dead and the jewel purified she had been left no excuse to argue returning through the well and allowing it to seal. And Shippou had settled in to keep his promise.

The years had gone slowly at first. He lived with Miroku and Sango when they married. Rin had pled with Sesshomaru to restore the life of the taijiya boy and so Kohaku also resided with them. As they aged, the young boy and girl had expanded their friendship until Kohaku had bravely asked Sesshomaru for permission to marry Rin. Another hut had been erected beside the Sango's and both couples had lived long and prosperous lives, each giving life to a new generation.

The years continued to go by in much the same fashion. Always there was one or two of the children who would remain in the village to take care of the shrine that had once been abandoned and was being rebuilt. Mostly it was Rin and Kohaku's decedents. Those spawned by the blood of the monk and taijiya had more of a roaming nature. For a little over a hundred years Shippou remained living with the offspring of his former friends until the youkai race began to die out and there were few of them left.

It was the growth of the human population and expansion of villages and towns that ultimately did in the youkai. Many of them were stubborn and set in their ways, unwilling to give up their wildness and wilderness for the evolving times. They had fought the change and many were killed for it. Others starved or took their own lives. Those who gave in became more like the humans they had to co-exist with and mated with them, thinning the youkai blood until there was none left. Oh, there were still a few full blooded youkai left, but they kept themselves hidden, masquerading as regular humans for the most part.

With the changing of the times and the dwindling youkai population, the creatures that had once been so powerful and feared became little more than legend. As far as most people were concerned, they had never even existed.

And so, to have a relative who never seemed to age or die, who your grandmother could remember her grandmother taking about was a bit disconcerting. To keep from drawing attention to himself, two-hundred and fifty years after Kagome had returned to her era, Shippou bid goodbye to his adopted family and disappeared. It was assumed that he died, but in truth he had sought out the inu youkai, Sesshomaru.

The centuries following Inuyasha's death had diminished the youkai's strong hatred for his half brother until it was little more than a slight annoyance when his name was mentioned. He had allowed the now adult kitsune to stay with him, keeping a silent vigil over Rin and Kohaku's decedents for several generations until he was seemingly forgotten. Then he had reacquainted himself with the family, finding himself and Sesshomaru as business partners with them as the inu youkai would not deny his protection to his adopted daughter's family.

It was in that way that five hundred and twenty-five years passed and birth was given to a baby girl, named Izyaoi after the mother of a family legend. When she had come of age and married, Sesshomaru had come forward, bringing her husband into business with him - a successful real estate business - and taking him under his wing in such a way that he was quickly accepted as family, as was the newly wed man's good friend, Shippou.

Izyaoi had given birth to a baby boy and fondly called him Koinu, but tragically, she lost her husband that same year.

And then it happened. The chance for Shippou to begin fulfilling his promise had finally come when he happened to see in the nursery window one morning, when Izyaoi had brought Koinu to the hospital for a check up, a beautiful baby girl - Higarashi Kagome.

He had watched her grow into the caring and wonderful young woman he had known as a child and had kept tabs on her while she traveled through the well. His intention had been to announce himself the day that she returned for the last time so that he could be there to help her through her grief. It would help, he thought, for her to have someone familiar from that time to cry to and he could tell her all the wonderful things that had happened in Sango and Miroku's lives; how they had raised five beautiful children and let her in on the fact that Sesshomaru had revived Kohaku - the tai youkai had not yet returned the boy when she said goodbye to them.

The _ting_ of a fork hitting a plate pulled him from his musings and he looked up to find Koinu braced with one elbow on the bar and his head in his hand, asleep. He rolled his eyes and poked his bare arm with his fork tongs. "Koinu, you're about to fall in your frosting. Go to bed."

The young man jumped and blinked bleary eyes, mumbling something under his breath that even Shippou didn't catch. Finally he shoved himself up from the seat and stumbled back to the stairs leaving the kitsune chuckling in the kitchen.

Shippou put his and Koinu's plates in the sink and shook his head. He wasn't absolutely certain of the exact date Inuyasha had died, but he knew close enough to guess and what he had discovered was, while not all that surprising, still a bit to swallow.

His nephew, his best friend's son, the boy he'd watched grow up, the man who was a direct descendant of the slayer and monk who had raised him, was Inuyasha's reincarnation.

He had always known the two were similar in their habits and attitudes. Koinu was almost a carbon copy of the hanyou on his human night, only with shorter hair. He had just figured it to be a coincidence. The one thing, though, that could not be disputed was the scar.

The scar had never been there before, he knew. Then, after the accident, after the cuts and all had started to heal, he had noticed it. On the boy's right shoulder was a light, circular scar with the kanji for Kagome's name. That was how he had known.

And the wreck, the motorcycle accident that had marked this turn of events had taken place on the same day at what was the exact moment when Inuyasha had died five hundred and seventy five years before.

Because of Koinu's admittance to the hospital, he'd been unable to approach Kagome on that next day. He had attempted to since then, but it never really felt quite right so he had kept his distance and just watched over her.

But one thing bugged him...He had believed that when Inuyasha died, the scar Kagome bore with his kanji, marking her as his, would disappear. He had noticed it was still there the day she left, but he hadn't been able to think much on it and it had never seemed important. And he _knew_ that with a reincarnation that scar would not have appeared the way it did. It shouldn't have anyway.

"Unless," he muttered, returning to his room - he'd moved in after the death of Koinu's father to help Izyaoi out. "Unless, maybe Koinu is supposed to know..."

* * *

Koinu stripped his tee shirt off and stretched, catching sight of the scars from his accident. It only been six months since the accident and though all his wounds had healed, the scars were still prominent against the sun tanned tone of his skin. There were tiny scars from the scratches he'd received, rolling down the slight embankment and the larger ones where sticks and other debris had ripped through the material of his shirt and jacket, tearing his side open in several places.

He'd been lucky and he knew it, just like he was aware that it was his own stupidity that had caused the crash in the first place. He was damn lucky to be alive. So what if his mom never let him own another bike? After that, he didn't have much interest in them anyway. None of his friends did either.

He fell across the bed and tossed the sheet over himself, staring up at the ceiling. He had no interest in going back to sleep, but his body protested staying awake any longer and he finally gave in to his body's demands.

* * *

_She was sitting on the lip of the well when he appeared and he felt his resolve waiver. No, he had to do this. He had obligations, responsibilities, that couldn't be ignored. He wasn't free to give her what she wanted, what she deserved, and it wasn't right to keep hurting her. _

_She looked up and smiled, a small tug of her lips that indicated just the slightest bit of pleasure at his presence. "Inuyasha," she said his name softly and then sighed. But the smile was still there. "I've been thinking and I came to realize, Kikyo and I are alike in at least one way. We both wish to be with you. The only difference is that I want you to live, Inuyasha. But what I want isn't important. What you want is. Whatever you decide to do, I'll support you and I'll be by your side for as long as you'll let me."_

_He felt like a complete jerk. Here was this wonderful, beautiful girl who, by her own confession, wanted nothing but to be allowed to stay with him and he couldn't offer her anything in return. Maybe it was for the better, though. He didn't deserve her. "Thank you."_

_She smiled again, a bit brighter this time and stood, timidly slipping her hand into his. After a moment, his fingers curled around hers and squeezed lightly before heading off b ack to join the others, hand in hand

* * *

_

_She didn't know he was there. The kid and the neko probably did, but he wasn't giving any signal that he did which was just fine with him. She'd been angry with him when he'd stalked off before and he didn't really feel like eating dirt again. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered at these memories and feelings, but it didn't seem that important to him at the moment._

_At that moment his entire being was focused on the young woman in the clearing. She was holding a long, flimsy wand with several circular cut outs at the top and jogging in lazy circles. Every so often she would stop and dip the tip into a vat of liquid and begin again. As she moved, the wind would catch the liquid and bubbles would come out of circular cut outs. The kid held a smaller version and hoped around behind her while the neko jumped into the air, batting and biting at the bubbles. Some part of him knew what the contraption was and what its purpose was, but he didn't know how._

_The woman laughed at the neko's antics and dunked her stick once more, making larger bubbles than the ones made by the kid. After a moment she dropped to the ground by the liquid, still laughing, to catch her breath. She took out a much smaller wand and dipped it, then held it to her lips and blew. A stream of small bubbles came out and floated through the air. _

_He was captivated. _

_It wasn't just her physical beauty that entranced him. Even he could admit that he'd seen prettier females in his past, but everything about her called to him in a way that no one else ever had. The sound of her laughter, the way her nose crinkled when she smiled, how her hair caught the sunlight and reflected it back in shades of blue, the way she moved - not quite graceful, but not clumsily either. He loved it all._

_She looked up, exactly at the spot where he was hiding and he stiffened until she smiled. He'd been forgiven. _

_But most of all, he loved her for her heart, which she had willingly given to him.

* * *

_

_White mist swirled around him and he encountered a young woman, in her mid twenties, dressed in the fuku of a warrior priestess. In her right hand was a string of beads and in her left was a sword which she had taken from its sheath as she approached. _

_He growled and prepared to fight. He'd already been forced to leave the one thing that meant anything in his life. He had thought himself dead, but death didn't have mikos with weapons coming at him. _

_Then again, how would he know? He'd never really died before._

"_Calm yourself, hanyou," she ordered and maneuvered the sword so that the tip stuck in the ground by her foot and her hand rested on its hilt. "I have not come looking for a fight. Fate is not done with you. You have been given a second chance. It is time for you to awaken!" _

_With a movement quicker than he could have given her credit for, she once more brandished the sword and lunged forward in an attempt to strike him.

* * *

_

For the second time that night, he awoke with a start and popped up as if he had been attached to a string. With a frustrated groan he fell back against the bed and opened his eyes focusing on the ceiling above him, trying to put into place the pieces of scattered memories and emotions that had fallen down around him as he slept.

It was there - all of it. Every look, every word, every touch, every embrace, every moment spent in her presence...it was there. He had remembered it, relived it, rejoiced once more in its happening. He there. He knew who he was, finally, after all these years. The knowledge had always been there, just beneath the surface, but he'd never been able to grasp it until now.

And now, there was only one thing left that he needed.

"Kagome..."


End file.
